What to Watch: Strategy, playoff intrigue the gateway to grasping St. Louis

Posted on September 6, 2025September 7, 2025 by John Crane

Track: World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway
Location: Madison, Illinois
Track length: 1.25 miles
When: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App
Race purse: $9,797,935
Race distance: 240 laps | 300 miles
Stages: 45 | 140 | 240
Defending winner: Austin Cindric, June 2024
Starting lineup: Denny Hamlin claims pole in second consecutive playoff race

RELATED: How to watch on USA Network

Mystery, parity provides plenty of Gateway clarity

MADISON, Ill. — Darlington Raceway had its fair share of in-race chaos to open the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, with only four postseason drivers finishing inside the top 10 at the “Lady in Black,” the fewest ever in a playoff opener.

Enter World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, a track with plenty of unpredictability that could create more playoff turnover.

If there is one thing to know about Gateway, it’s this: Like New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway, it’s flat. But unlike those two slightly banked tracks, Gateway’s designation as a Cup Series track has been brief. Heading into Sunday’s contest, NASCAR’s premier circuit has only raced at St. Louis three times, with 2022 being the inaugural event and 2025 marking the first time the facility has hosted a playoff contest. With a tire compound utilized at Iowa Speedway last month in play this weekend — with said tire developed from a Goodyear test at Gateway in June — there is much still to learn as the Cup Series wrangles the Midwest ropes.

Even with plenty of variables — both unique and new alike — that doesn’t mean the Cup Series hasn’t learned a thing or two already. So, what have they learned?

MORE: Playoff standings before Gateway

For starters, qualifying is critical; race winners all started inside the top 10 to begin the contest, with 2023 victor Kyle Busch starting on the pole. However, starting near the front does not necessitate leading at the front for the entire race. According to Racing Insights, the race winner took the lead with two laps to go in two of three St. Louis races (2022, 2024). As such, a collection of up-front speed and late-race maneuvering is the recipe for success.

If there’s another takeaway, it’s that one team in particular dominates here. According to NASCAR Insights, all three Team Penske drivers rank inside the top 10 in Long-Run Speed and Defense Rating at comparable tracks raced so far this season (Phoenix, Iowa, Richmond). Joey Logano, who triumphed here in 2022, is the only driver to finish inside the top 10 in all three St. Louis races, and his 3.0 average finish is his best among all tracks. Defending Gateway winner Austin Cindric — who started on the front row in 2024 and claimed the victory after teammate Ryan Blaney ran out of fuel on the penultimate lap — holds plenty of success, too, with his 8.33 average finish a personal best among all tracks.

“It just seems like for us right now, most of the time our cars are pretty fast at the flat 1-mile type race tracks, whether that’s Phoenix, Gateway, Loudon (New Hampshire), Richmond kind of falls in there, but it’s quite a bit of a different track as well, but it’s similar speed-wise,” Joey Logano said. “It seems like we have a pretty good handle on that type of thing and that type of track, so hopefully that’s the case again.

“Like I said, a lot of things happen in a year, whether it’s manufacturers or teams. The 20 (Christopher Bell) was really strong there at Gateway last year, so I would expect him to be fast again, and some others. It’s been a good one, but with that said, there are a lot of things that can happen at that race track. It doesn’t seem like we’ve had a lot of fall-off there in the past. I don’t know what this tire will bring — possibly more — but with the lack of tire fall-off that’s been there in the past, the strategy, if you get a caution that falls in the middle of a stage, it really jumbles it up like it did last year, and it can happen again.”

Even still, parity is still plenty abundant here. In three St. Louis races, three different drivers have prevailed, and while one team has won two of those contests, the sample size is still small enough that trends and tendencies could shift rapidly. Adding playoff stakes to the mix — especially after Darlington’s postseason-opening carnage — and this is magnified, especially from a points perspective. Playoff drivers averaged 25.1 points last weekend at Darlington, the fewest ever in a playoff race.

In other words, playoff drivers better continue learning here, lest they be left in the proverbial postseason dust.

Logan Riely | Getty Images

From atop the pit box …

What do crew chiefs have in focus to win Sunday’s race?

While Gateway may share similarities with other tracks on the circuit, crew chiefs understand that each track presents its own unique set of challenges, and St. Louis is no exception.

“It’s kind of egg-shaped, and it’s so flat and you’re on the brakes so early, it’s just a totally different set of problems,” Adam Stevens, crew chief of Christopher Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, told NASCAR.com. “There’s a fair amount of compromise between the ends, since the ends are different and the straightaways are really long, so you have to have a good exit if you’re going to be competitive.”

As crew chief of defending Gateway winner Austin Cindric, Brian Wilson recognizes the need for a blended approach.

“It’s pretty high speed. It’s a different aero package,” Wilson told NASCAR.com. “So you obviously got to blend a little bit of the short track with the intermediate notebook, you know, a lot of shifting. … It’s flat. A lot of strategy goes into this race. From a setup standpoint, I feel like, as a company, we’ve got a really good notebook, so it’s nice to lean on that, but it’s definitely a unique short track, just with the aero package that you have, the tire combination and just how the place races would be with the shifting that you have.”

RELATED: Gateway schedule | Full 2025 schedule

Such an odd-shaped track in itself would be a tricky challenge, but a tire compound used only once in the Cup Series this season adds more intrigue.

These new left- and right-side tires, developed from a Goodyear tire test at Gateway in June and utilized at Iowa Speedway in August (with fast corner speeds in mind), create an extra layer of in-race strategy.

“The biggest thing is the construction, which resulted in roughly half the stagger, which on a flat track, as much as you’re in the gas, that’s a really, really big deal,” Stevens said. “It’s going to completely change the handling of the cars and completely change what the optimal setup is. So it’s a bit of an unknown. Iowa and this place are nothing like each other, but that’s all we have to compare to. But there’s going to be some people that hit it off the truck, and some people that miss it.”

This season’s St. Louis running comes after last year’s June contest, which saw Cindric take the victory flag thanks to taking only three stops for tires and capitalizing with enough speed to seize the race lead when teammate Ryan Blaney ran out of fuel on the next-to-last lap.

Such strengths — with playoff implications on the line — will look to be matched and surpassed, especially from Stevens’ No. 20 team, which came close to halting Team Penske’s St. Louis surge last year, finishing seventh. Bell has finished 11th or better in three career Cup starts at Gateway.

“We led the most laps and won both stages last year and broke a valve spring, so we had what we needed to compete for the win,” Stevens said. “It just wasn’t in the cards. So I feel like Bell is a short-track master, and our package, we’re able to find what suits him at these types of places. So, have high hopes for the weekend.”

To Wilson and the No. 2 team, the goal will be to maintain dominance at Gateway and improve on playoff positioning. Cindric ranks ninth in the playoff standings, 12 points above the cutline. Bell ranks directly behind the No. 2 in the table, 11 points clear.

“We were excited when it was announced that this would be a playoff race,” Wilson said of Gateway. “It was a good race for us last year. You know, I think there is added pressure, right? You’ve got to make sure that you come out of here with points. So the risk versus reward of the strategy changes a little bit. But yeah, from just a confidence standpoint, I feel like our team, we feel like we should be able to run well, we should be able to score stage points and ultimately get a good finish.”

Logan Riely | Getty Images

History tells us …

Clocking OT is possible. Although last year’s race ended in regulation, the two previous St. Louis Cup races (2022-23) resulted in a NASCAR Overtime finish.

He may not be the favorite to win, but watch out for …

BRAD KESELOWSKI. Though the No. 6 RFK Racing pilot is not racing for the Bill France Cup in 2025, there is still plenty of reason to think that the 2012 Cup Series champion can make noise this weekend. According to NASCAR Insights, Keselowski ranks inside the top 10 in Speed Rating (fourth), Long-Run Speed (fifth), Passer Rating (sixth) and Restart Rating (10th) at comparable tracks to Gateway. Keselowski finished third in the 2024 Cup contest and was involved in the June tire test.

Fantasy update

NASCAR Fantasy Live expert Dustin Albino provides insight for your Sunday lineup.

The three powerhouse teams showed flashes of excellence on Saturday at Gateway. Denny Hamlin won consecutive Busch Light Pole Awards for the first time since 2018. Ryan Blaney topped the 10-lap average chart in practice. Even Hendrick Motorsports, at a track where it has historically struggled, showed promise with Kyle Larson starting second. William Byron and Chase Elliott showed potential over the long haul, leading the way at 25- and 30-lap averages. The outlier is Ross Chastain, with a fourth-place qualifying effort. Having used a start already on many of the top-contending cars at Darlington, I feel like my hands are tied, so I’m placing Chastain in my lineup over the likes of Hamlin and Larson.

Lineup: Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain.

Garage: Joey Logano.

MORE: Lineup advice in Fantasy Fastlane

Speed reads

Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.

• NASCAR at Gateway: Key info, qualifying reports and more from doubleheader weekend | Read more
• Racing Insights: Stumbling playoff drivers could rebound at Gateway | Read more
• Bubble Watch: The Gateway name of the playoff game for postseason field | Read more
• Time to show your worth: Gateway presents critical proving ground for Hendrick Motorsports | Read more
• Column: Is it time for Hendrick Motorsports to panic? | Read more
• Playoff Pulse: Who’s hot, who’s not ahead of St. Louis | Read more
• Turning Point to Gateway: Fresh title favorite emerges in postseason’s early going | Read more
• At-track photos: The best shots from World Wide Technology Raceway | View gallery
• Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh designs set for Midwest speed show | View gallery
• Power Rankings: An updated look at where playoff drivers stack | This week’s top 20

Logan Riely | Getty Images

Posted on September 6, 2025September 6, 2025 by Dustin Albino

MADISON, Ill. — Without spilling secrets, Austin Dillon knows Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) is important for the No. 3 team.

“Gateway is huge for us,” Dillon said bluntly on Saturday before practice. “I think that if we can execute like we did at Darlington, this is a place where it’s tougher to pass than Darlington, and maintaining track position is a bit easier because of that.”

In recent years, Dillon has excelled at shorter flat tracks. He played the role of playoff shocker at Richmond Raceway last month, winning the penultimate race of the regular season from 28th in the championship standings. It was his first top-five finish in over a year, which also came at Richmond.

Between mastering Richmond, leading a career-high 107 laps at the 0.75-mile oval and earning finishes of 10th and 12th, respectively, at Iowa Speedway and Phoenix Raceway, the No. 3 car has averaged 36.7 points at comparable tracks to Gateway in 2025. That ranks third in the series, trailing only William Byron (41.3) and Ryan Blaney (39), according to Racing Insights.

“I feel comfortable with whatever we’re doing with the cars and just confident,” Dillon said of recently flourishing on flatter track surfaces. “Giving good feedback, the guys are giving me good race cars and it’s probably a strong suit for us right now at RCR.”

Execution was the motto the No. 3 team adopted to begin the playoffs. Before kickstarting the postseason at Darlington Raceway, Dillon was emphatic that he could bust playoff grids and advance to the Round of 12. After placing 23rd in the Southern 500 and earning only 14 points, he trails the elimination line by eight points entering Gateway.

Confidence remains high for Dillon, though, as RCR cars have had recent success at Gateway. The No. 3 car finished sixth in 2024, and St. Louis is the host of Kyle Busch’s most recent victory, some 84 races ago, after leading 121 circuits from pole position.

“I feel like we should be above the cutline because of all the stuff that went down last week, and we didn’t,” Dillon stated. “Execution was the main word that I used at [Cup Series Playoff] Media Day. We executed partly, half of it. Getting through that race, we’re only eight away from the cutline, so it’s not insurmountable. I feel really good about these two races.

“You have to do a good job with strategy and different things. I think the past history of Kyle running really well here and winning the race. Last year, we had a fast car and were able to take advantage of that and finish sixth and score stage points. Some stage points would be good and a top 10 and I feel like we’re going into Bristol just above the cutline, and then we’ve got to go do the same thing there.”

Dillon was the caboose of the field, over three-tenths of a second slower than 35th-place AJ Allmendinger in practice. However, the No. 3 driver rebounded in qualifying and will roll off 15th for Sunday’s race.

Posted on September 6, 2025September 6, 2025 by Reid Spencer

MADISON, Ill. — Denny Hamlin is perfect for the 2025 Playoffs — at least when it comes to qualifying.

With a lap at 139.190 mph (32.330 seconds) on Saturday at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Hamlin claimed the pole position for the second time in two playoff races and will lead the field to green in Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

Hamlin’s No.19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was 0.021 seconds faster than the No. 5 Chevrolet of Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson (139.099 mph), the only Playoff driver to participate in a Goodyear tire test at the 1.25-mile track in June.

The Busch Light Pole Award was Hamlin’s first at Gateway — and the first for Toyota — his third of the season and the 46th of his career, tying him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Junior Johnson for 11th all-time.

Coincidentally, Hamlin is also 11th on the career victory list with 58 but has converted only six of his pole-position starts into wins.

Hamlin enters the second race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs second in the standings behind Darlington winner Chase Briscoe, who qualified third on Saturday at 138.902 mph. After a seventh-place finish from the pole at the “Lady in Black,” Hamlin is 43 points above the current elimination line for the Round of 12.

“We were able to, very similarly to last week, make some great adjustments from where we were in practice,” Hamlin said. “And again, there is so much that is different from practice to qualifying when you’re going for one lap. Air pressures at a track like this are dramatically different, certainly, the intensity from which I drive is a lot different in practice than qualifying. They gave me all of the adjustments that I needed to have a really good-handling car there, and we were able to capitalize on it.”

Ross Chastain (138.855 mph) was fourth in time trials in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. Ryan Blaney, who won at Iowa last year on the same tire combination in use this weekend at Gateway, qualified fifth at 138.752 mph in the fastest Ford.

With playoff drivers accounting for the top nine starting positions, William Byron qualified sixth, followed by Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric. Tenth-place Zane Smith was the fastest non-playoff driver in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford.

Josh Berry, 19 points below the cutline after finishing last at Darlington, will start 12th, followed by 2022 Gateway winner Joey Logano, who comes to the second playoff race three points below the elimination line.

Other playoff drivers qualified as follows: Bubba Wallace 14th, Austin Dillon 15th, Shane van Gisbergen 18th, Chase Elliott 19th and Alex Bowman 25th.

Ty Gibbs sets early pace in Gateway practice

Ty Gibbs topped the leaderboard in NASCAR Cup Series practice at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Gibbs posted a best lap of 136.786 mph in the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at the 1.25-mile track. Kyle Larson was second-fastest in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at 136.355 mph, 0.104 seconds behind Gibbs.

MORE: Practice results | Weekend schedule

Brad Keselowski, Carson Hocevar and Todd Gilliland completed the top five.

The practice session, which split the field into two groups running 25 minutes each, was completed without major incident. Defending Gateway winner Austin Cindric scraped the right side of his No. 2 Team Penske Ford in Group B, but was able to return to the track with mostly cosmetic damage. He was 27th on the practice board.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on September 6, 2025 by Dustin Albino

MADISON, Ill. — Bubba Wallace doesn’t need to be informed about his past results at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. He has a best finish of 21st in three attempts at the NASCAR Cup Series level, and his average finish of 25.7 is his worst among active ovals.

“We don’t really have anything to brag about in the Cup car here,” Wallace said on Saturday at Gateway. “Aside from our 2014 truck win — a little bit different.”

With a strong sixth-place outing in the playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, earning the fourth-most points in the grueling crown-jewel race, Wallace increased his points buffer to 25 markers over the elimination line. That allows some wiggle room for the No. 23 team over the next two races at Gateway and Bristol Motor Speedway to close the Round of 16.

The good news for Wallace is that the No. 23 team has been in the mix at tracks comparable to Gateway throughout the 2025 season. Last month, he led a career-high 123 laps at Richmond Raceway, two weeks after dicing through the field at Iowa Raceway to finish sixth after starting the final run at the rear of the field. The same Goodyear Racing tire that was used at Iowa will be on display at Gateway.

“Hopefully, that breeds some success from Iowa,” Wallace said of the same Goodyear tire setup. “Every track is unique, and every track is different. You can go back to Iowa and not have the same result that we did — that’s just how much things evolve and change.

“We just have to lock in, figure out what our car needs. This is probably the one out of the 10 that are circled that’s like, eh, need to figure out something here. Not in a bad way. I’m excited for the challenge and excited to figure it out. I think we’re in a good spot. It’s different looking at points now versus being on the bubble looking at points. I’m OK, plus 25. I’ll take it.”

The fresh mindset for Wallace is fairly simple: continue the summer surge that the No. 23 team has been on. Dating back to late July at Dover Motor Speedway, he has five top-10 finishes over the last seven races, highlighted by the biggest victory of his career at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

That ideology, spearheaded by rookie Cup Series crew chief Charles Denike, will be put to the test at Gateway.

“My philosophy and mindset coming into this place is not vibing,” Wallace added. “Looking forward to doing something new and chasing a feel that’s different and being comfortable being uncomfortable. I feel like we have a good hold on our short-track stuff, so I don’t think it will be any different.”

Neither Wallace nor 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin is concerned about Wallace’s Gateway statistics. Staying even would pay dividends, going to a track at Bristol where the No. 23 team has a pair of top-15 finishes in the last four races.

“I think that they feel pretty good,” Hamlin stated. “They have some good tracks these next couple of weeks and have the speed to do it. As long as they focus on the execution of the race, I think they will be fine.”

Posted on September 6, 2025September 6, 2025 by Staff Report

An engineer on the No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford was ejected from World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway after the vehicle failed NASCAR Cup Series pre-race technical inspection twice on Saturday.

Engineer Marc Hendricksen was ejected from the event, officials announced Saturday afternoon, leaving driver Cole Custer and his No. 41 team short one crew member for Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

MORE: Gateway schedule | At-track photos

Additionally, the No. 41 team lost its pit selection for Sunday’s 240-lapper and will have its pit stall chosen by NASCAR officials.

On Friday, Haas Factory Team announced its 2026 plans to pivot from Ford to Chevrolet, joining a technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports. The team also confirmed Custer’s return to the No. 41 car in the Cup Series, while Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer will respectively return to the Nos. 00 and 41 cars in the soon-to-be-rebranded NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, currently known as the Xfinity Series.

Posted on September 6, 2025September 6, 2025 by Staff Report

See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers will pit this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

NASCAR Cup Series

Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: How to watch NASCAR on The CW

Posted on September 6, 2025 by Staff Report

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR and Riverhead Raceway officials have postponed this weekend’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event due to a forecast of continued rain for this weekend. The race has been rescheduled for Saturday, October 4. The start time will be announced at a later date.

The Eddie Partridge 256 was originally scheduled for this Saturday, September 6.

Points leader Austin Beers has yet to win on the Tour at Riverhead Raceway, but he has proven stronger there over the past several races, putting together top-10 finishes in his last five events there. He placed eighth there earlier this year, but had a runner-up finish there in May, 2023.

Justin Bonsignore is the all-time Whelen Modified Tour wins leader at Riverhead with 12 victories total, but Ron Silk is the defending winner of the Eddie Partridge 256. Bonsignore will be hoping to capitalize on past success at Riverhead to give himself a shot at a fifth Tour championship, as he currently trails leader Beers by 17 points in the standings.

Another title contender, Patrick Emerling, is 21 points behind Beers. He has a win at Riverhead in 2021 on his resume and will hope to add a third victory this season to his tally in order to continue to chase his championship dreams.

Posted on September 5, 2025 by Team Release

LEXINGTON, N.C. (Sept. 5, 2025) – Kaulig Racing announced today that Brenden Queen will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway in the team’s No. 11 Chevrolet.

Queen, the 2024 CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour champion, currently competes full-time in the ARCA Menards Series and boasts a series high of six wins and three pole awards in the 2025 season.

“It’s been a dream of mine to get a chance to drive in the Xfinity Series,” said Queen. “I can’t thank everyone at Kaulig Racing enough for making that dream become a reality. I’m fortunate to have this opportunity, and I can’t wait to get to Bristol and give the team all I’ve got and have a solid day.”

MORE: Xfinity schedule | Learn more about Queen

Queen is no stranger to short tracks, having won three consecutive track championships at his home track of Langley Speedway in 2020, 2021 and 2022 in the Late Model Stock car division.

“We’re super excited to be a part of Brenden’s next steps in his racing career,” said Chris Rice, president of Kaulig Racing. “He has made a splash in the ARCA Menards Series and is an all-around great short-track racer, so we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do in the Xfinity Series under the lights at Bristol.”

The Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway kicks off Friday, Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. ET with coverage on the CW.

Posted on September 5, 2025 by Nate Ryan

With omnipresent AI, endlessly churning supercomputers and precise simulations, it’s hard to fathom what happened to so many powerhouse teams at the Southern 500.

The championship stakes were sky high in the Cup Series playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, and many of the best and brightest in NASCAR’s premier series mostly failed to deliver the goods.

RELATED: Cup standings | Gateway schedule

Mistakes by title contenders have been an enduring theme for years in the playoff opener, but never has there been a flop to this degree — nor in these circumstances. The errors usually come from drivers who overcooked a corner, got overly aggressive on a restart or pushed a late pit stop past the boundaries of the speed limit.

These blunders happened much earlier in this case — in the days and weeks before the green flag dropped. The typically reliable armies of razor-sharp engineers clearly misjudged the setups of several championship contenders, and the results shook up the playoffs.

It was evident from the first lap when the underside of Josh Berry’s No. 21 Ford began violently bouncing on the weathered asphalt of The “Lady in Black.” Berry understandably crashed his ill-handling car and was the worst-finishing playoff driver in last place, but many hardly fared much better.

Team Penske, which is strongly aligned with Berry’s Wood Brothers Racing team, couldn’t crack the top 10 with Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric. The best finisher of Hendrick Motorsports’ four playoff Chevrolets was Chase Elliott, who lamented trying to grind out “a top last” in 17th. He still was ahead of Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson and regular-season champ William Byron (“we’re embarrassed,” crew chief Rudy Fugle said plainly on the No. 24 team radio.)

“We just missed it on the raw speed side,” Logano said about finishing 20th in a race the three-time champion won three years ago. “It definitely wasn’t what we were looking for, there’s no doubt about that. We wanted to have a faster car, and I really expected to have a faster car in Darlington considering our history there, but unfortunately, we didn’t bring enough speed.”

It’s not unusual for a first-class team to make a wrong educated guess on its setup. Sometimes, those missteps are magnified in contrast to a teammate’s car built under the same roof. In the 2004 Coca-Cola 600, winner Jimmie Johnson led 334 of 400 laps on the same night that Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon was a staggering seven laps down in 30th because the four-time champion barely could keep pace at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

But the across-the-board vulnerability among the elite at Darlington was stunning, and it raised an intriguing question to consider.

Was there an element of groupthink at play?

So much of modern-day NASCAR depends on feeding the right numbers into simulations that spit out suspension settings that often are spot on from the first lap of practice. In an era of limited real-world testing, the dependence on Big Data is essential for predictive modeling of the behavior of a vehicle traveling 200 mph.

The flip side is the risk of a “garbage in, garbage out” element to such sophisticated simulation tools. What if widespread miscalculations were made off using the same baseline assumptions that turned out wrong?

It wouldn’t be the first time that big teams have gravitated toward similar setup conclusions, but the outcome typically has been largely positive.

When their teams routinely dominated Cup in the mid-2000s, Jack Roush once speculated his employees were exchanging ideas with Hendrick Motorsports team members at the restaurants that line the Interstate 85 highway separating their shops (which are located roughly 5 miles apart).

“As much as I dislike it, and I’m sure Rick (Hendrick) dislikes it, there’s a lot of cross-pollination with people that move around and have breakfast and lunch together in the Charlotte area,” Roush said then.

That was 20 years ago, but the idea still applies. Trade secrets filter throughout Cup as team members migrate around the greater Charlotte area. And with so much more information being shared and critically applied in highly technical software programs, the margin for error might have grown for a collectively big miss, as what seemed to occur for so many Chevrolet and Ford teams at Darlington.

Consider that Toyotas, using their own proprietary data and simulations, took six of the top seven spots at the “Track Too Tough to Tame” as Chase Briscoe dominated with Tyler Reddick in hot pursuit.

“Whether we missed it or the Toyotas got that much better, it’s kind of hard to answer that,” Logano said. “But you look at the front-running cars there, and they had one thing in common. There’s probably some work to be done from that standpoint, but we definitely weren’t the best Ford either, so we’ve got some work to do.”

The Southern 500 was a good reminder that even in the age of data-driven racing, the best teams can get it completely wrong.

Which will learn fastest from their mistakes over the season’s final nine races?

Adaptability and intuition could now be the most important tools for the teams whose simulations let them down at Darlington.

Posted on September 5, 2025 by Team Release

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — Haas Factory Team will align with Chevrolet beginning in 2026, a move that encompasses its full-time NASCAR Cup Series program and two full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series entries that will compete in the soon-to-be-renamed NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

As part of the manufacturer switch from Ford to Chevrolet, Haas Factory Team will have a technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports, which will include using Hendrick-built engines across both series.

“First and foremost, we want to thank Ford for its partnership. Their support allowed us to establish Haas Factory Team and we remain dedicated to delivering results for them in Cup and Xfinity all the way through the season finale in Phoenix,” said Joe Custer, president, Haas Factory Team.

The alignment with Chevrolet in 2026 represents a full-circle moment for Haas Factory Team. Its origins began with Haas CNC Racing, which team owner Gene Haas founded in 2002. When Haas partnered with NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart in 2009 to form Stewart-Haas Racing, the organization campaigned Chevrolets through the 2016 season.

MORE: Key players in 2025-2026 Silly Season

“Personally, I have a deep history with Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports,” Haas said. “Both helped in establishing not only my presence as a team owner in NASCAR, but also the presence of Haas Automation. Together, we were able to build a race team that competed for wins and championships while growing the use of Haas CNC machinery throughout the racing and manufacturing industries.”

“We have a long history with Gene and his organization, including winning championships together, so this feels almost like a homecoming,” said Rick Hendrick, owner, Hendrick Motorsports. “Our relationship started many years ago with Haas CNC machines in our facilities, and I’ve always admired the passion that he and Joe Custer have for the sport and their desire to win. We’re proud to support Haas Factory Team and thrilled to work together to deliver more victories for Chevrolet.”

Cole Custer will continue to drive Haas Factory Team’s No. 41 entry in the Cup Series. Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer will also return to Haas Factory Team’s Nos. 00 and 41, entries, respectively, in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

Haas Factory Team will make its official re-debut with Chevrolet in the Feb. 1 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where Custer will drive his No. 41 Chevrolet in the exhibition, non-points Cup Series race. Creed and Mayer will join the Bowtie Brigade in the season-opening O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race Feb. 14 at Daytona International Speedway.